Greece is a country of great beauty and history, where thousands of visitors come every year to lie on breathtaking beaches, swim in sparkling waters and visit some of the most exquisite archaeological monuments in the world.

Travelling to Greece is easy and convenient, as the Athens Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” is one of Europe’s finest airports, catering daily to hundreds of international flights to Greece from abroad, as well as a large number of domestic flights to the Greek Islands and many other towns on the mainland.

Greece is the ideal place for sailing, as the seas surrounding Greece and the Greek Islands are calm, the climate of Greece is mild, and there are hundreds of coasts and coves that can only be accessed by boat.

Promoting sustainable tourism development through the conservation of natural resources, modernization of the tourist infrastructure and use of human capital and new technologies are major issues that are being addressed.

In this context, a very clear definition of the tourism product should be developed, taking into account both the intrinsic assets (nature, culture and climate) as well as any potential "add-on" themes, such as archaeology, that could be selected for development, in order to attract specific customer segments.

Once the tourism product is clarified, the appropriate placement channels and tactics should be determined, according to the target customer segments that need to be reached.

Tourism demand forecasting can help those involved in the tourism industry, a) to estimate the future levels of demand for tourist products/services, b) to identify the determinants of the demand for tourist products/services, c) to assess the impact of policy changes on tourism demand.

Tourism in Greece as well as in several other Mediterranean countries is one of the important sectors of the economy.

Thus given the critical state of tourism and the economy of Greece, authorities have to include in their plans for the future the impact of the Olympics on international tourism arrivals.

Tourism is a major sector in the Greek economy, contributing up to 17% to the GDP and accounting for 800000 jobs, directly and indirectly.

In addition not all of negative impacts attributed to tourism are due to tourism alone, in Greece but are also due to major structural changes such as rural-urban shifts and urbanization sprawl, the expansion of cities and the changing needs for space for the location of economic activities, infrastructure development and residences.

Unlike other tourist destinations, Greece benefits from the fact that tourism development is still at a balance with the environment and the particular characteristics of each place mainly due to the fragmentation of the territory (small islands, small bays and coastal areas) small scale and relatively low intensity of development.

ELKE Hellenic Center for Investment - Stats and Facts on Tourism(Site not responding. Last check: )

Tourism is a significant economic activity and occupies a dominant position in the Greek economy.

It is anticipated that Greece will figure on the agenda for many more millions of tourists in the next 10 years and that it will be ranked even higher on the list along with the most renowned and attractive destinations.

As the Ministry of Tourism stated, the most essential point is that the Olympics acted as the catalyst for a deeper and more realistic analysis of the Greek tourism product and brought about the redevelopment of the Greek tourism policy.

Alternative TourismGreece archaeological tourism:...Greece is the Land of History, the cradle of European civilization...

...Greece is the Land of History, the cradle of European civilization...

It is the country that produced giants in philosophy such as Socrates and Plato, leaders such as Pericles, Aristides and Themistocles, victorious army commanders such as King Philip of Macedonia and his son Alexander the Great.

According to figures of the World Organization of Tourism, Greece is in the 15th position among the countries of the planet with the biggest number of arrivals (approximately 12.5 million tourists in 2000).

Consequently, tourism is one of the basic wealth-producing resources of the country, something verified by the fact that Greece is in the 10th position among the countries with the highest tourist income all over the world.

Results over the past five years are testimony to Greece falling behind its primary competitors – over the six years from 2000 to 2005, Greece’stourism visitation grew by only 3% compared with 150% for Spain, 210% for Turkey and 12% for Portugal.

In addition, emerging markets are focusing on residential tourism as a means of extending the peak season – a market that Greece has yet to capture, despite the perceived safer status of Greece and its EU membership.

Tourism development has been concentrated in a few areas of the country (mainly located at natural waters, around thermal springs and in the mountains) and traditional rural tourism was somehow "lost" in the meantime.

Since in rural tourism many local residents without formal tourism education are involved, their education on the main issues of sustainability must form part of the overall development process.

Though rural tourism has the potential to be one of the most effective tools of regional development, it has not grown up to the expectations so far, due to several interrelated reasons described earlier in the paper.

International conferences focusing on this issue have produced suggestions referred to as "sustainable tourism." Loosely defined, inter-related categories are alternative tourism (nature and wildlife activities), ecotourism (promoting yet protecting natural areas from mass-tourism and development), and agrotourism (educational holidays in agriculture and culture to sustain rural population).

Local communities relying on tourism are faced with these issues -- while attempting to maintain their own cultural heritage and a clean living environment.

According to Nikos Charalambides, of Greenpeace's GMO Campaign, Crete could also be a model for organic farming practices and the natural alternative to GM engineering, due to her geographic location and climate conditions.

Josephides, N., 1993 Envirommental concern-What's in it for the tourism industry, Proceedings of the conference: Tourism and the environment: challenges and choices for the 1990's, 16-17 November 1992, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, pp.51-56, Brussels: European Union.

Papadopoulos, S. 1985 An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece: an examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960-1984 with a planning model and marketing policy recommendations.

The importance of tourism in the Greek national economy is evident as it is a significant source of foreign exchange.

Furthermore, the fact that during the Games, Greece was not the target of any terrorist attacks makes the country a ‘safe’ place to visit and be in, an important factor by the end of the review period.

In the case of incoming tourism, air travel represented a share of around 78% of the total number of arrivals during 2005, while for departures it was around 65%.

The decline of mass tourism in Greece over the past four years has highlighted the necessity of developing and promoting high-quality, alternative or "special" forms of tourism.

This form of diversification of the tourist "product" is the only way to overcome the countrys seasonal dependency on the summer months, preferred by the majority of its 13 million visitors despite mild weather prevailing for 8-10 months of the year.

In Switzerland and Spain, this is a blooming branch of year-round tourism.

The outlook is favorable for spa tourism in Greece » Greece Travel Blog(Site not responding. Last check: )

The outlook is favorable for spa tourism in Greece

Greek spa tourism could become a major attraction for travelers interested in health tourism as the country has the infrastructure and other advantages to seize a chunk of the world market, the speakers noted.

One Response to “ The outlook is favorable for spa tourism in Greece ”

In ancient times in Greece there have been three main civilizations, the Trojan civilization in Troy, the Cretan or Minoan civilization centered on Crete, and the Helladic or Mycenaean civilization of the Greek mainland.

Greek's victory against the Persian invaders at the beginning of the 5th century strengthens Athens role as the leader of the Greek world and marks the beginning of an epoch that was called "The Golden Age of Pericles" in which Athens became the cradle of democracy itself.

Greece has an abundance of resources that tourists with ecological and cultural interests will find attractive.

www.nationsonline.org /oneworld/greece.htm (857 words)

Ecotourism in Greece(Site not responding. Last check: )

Greece has a unique environment thanks to its central position between three con-tinents, diverse geographical features, multitude of islands, and turbulent geological history – a country whose nation has lived here for thousands of years, is rooted in ethnic identity, and has shaped the landscape.

On narrow strips of land, you will discover all the habitat types found in Europe, from the smallest phrygana on coastal shores to beech and birch forests, and alpine grasslands.

The extent of Greece’s ecological wealth can be seen in that one fifth of the country’s area is included in the European Ecological NATURA 2000 Network (See at the cor-responding web page of Hellenic Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works NATURA 2000).

Greece is a country unique of beauty that has everything to offer to the visitor: beautiful and variable landscapes, some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, picturesque white-painted or stone-built villages, passionate culture and traditions and, a heavy historical, archaeological and mythological heritage.

This is a list of the National Tourism Offices of Greece located in other countries.